Confident Conversations

Plan, manage, and conduct challenging conversations more confidently and competently.

Most of us will, from time to time, need to hold a difficult conversation with a colleague, manager, or member of staff. Challenging topics for conversations can include performance issues, dismissal or redundancy, interpersonal clashes, unwanted criticism, or other aspects of someone’s conduct, including allegations of bullying or poor treatment.

Our Confident Conversations course shows you how to plan, initiate, and manage a more positive discussion about any sensitive topic: helping you stay in control of both sides of the interaction and ensuring that you can set and achieve your objective for the conversation.

At a glance...

1-day course
Face-to-face or online
For 6 to 12 delegates
Pre-course consultation
Delivered by expert trainers
Fully-customised materials

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About the course

This interactive one-day course will cover:

How to manage discussions around sensitive subjects
Switching an interaction from competition to collaboration
Listening well, responding appropriately, and giving and receiving constructive feedback
Planning, structuring, and successfully concluding challenging conversations

At the conclusion of the training day, you should be able to:

Manage discussions around sensitive subjects confidently and competently
Listen well, respond appropriately, and provide feedback to colleagues
Plan, structure, and conduct challenging conversations straight away
Know when certain types of situations need to be passed on to more experienced mediators

Delivered either online or in-person at your location, all of our courses are live, interactive events, run by a practising mediator who is an expert in the field.

Confident Conversations includes a combination of:

Custom-made video clips
Lecture and live input by the trainer and discussion among delegates
Group exercises
Small-group activities
Practice sessions with simulated case material
Real-life case studies

What our learners say

"This training was very useful. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt how to deal with problematic conversations around issues of difference such as age, gender & ethnicity."

Camilla Capotorto Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

"This has been a fantastic course! The trainer was engaging, clear, and really encouraged the group to take part. I have also learnt some useful skills that will become an important part of my tool kit at work."

Marie-Claire Flavin Royal Surrey County Hospital

"Absolutely brilliant course and very useful. The role play to practise the skills was invaluable and offered chance for reflection."

Kathy Reeve University Hospitals of Coventry & Warwickshire

"The trainer has provided me with the knowledge and examples of why, when and how certain situations should or could be handled to receive positive or amicable outcomes. I have thoroughly enjoyed this short course."

Lee Carneson University of Stirling

"I liked the way the trainer took a situation and made everyone think about it from a different point of view, with the outcome having a stronger message in an appropriate language and setting."

Claire Ozdag Operis

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Course FAQs

We understand that you may have some queries about the course’s content or about how the training is delivered.

We’ve gathered together some of the most Frequently Asked Questions and have answered them below.

Who should attend this course?

This one-day course is ideal for those who may have to deal with challenging conversations from time to time. This could include disciplinaries, appraisals, or even quiet words over someone's behaviour. We have delivered this course for HR staff, team leaders and managers, and senior workers on the frontline.

Will I be a mediator after doing this course?

No, we are careful to distinguish our shorter courses from our accredited mediator programmes.

What we say is that this course will equip you with the ability to have challenging conversations, but you won’t be a Mediator. To gain full accreditation, you would need our Interpersonal Mediation Practitioner’s Certificate course.